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The Nebraska men's tennis team rounds out regular-season action on Saturday, April 17, when the Huskers take on No. 64 Oklahoma at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Okla.
Nebraska picked up its only Big 12 victory last season with a 4-3 win over the Sooners in Lincoln. Overall, the Huskers have won three straight regular-season matchups against Oklahoma since a 7-0 loss to OU in 2000.
OU enters the week with a 15-5 overall record and 1-3 mark in Big 12 Conference action. The Sooners, who face No. 28 Oklahoma State on Wednesday, April 14, before taking on the Huskers this weekend, have been ranked in the ITA national poll all year, reaching as high as No. 60 on March 28.
The Sooners have dropped three of their last five matches ? all in league play ? with their only win coming against Colorado, 4-3. Oklahoma owns an 0-4 record against ranked teams heading into this week's matchup with the Cowboys.
The Sooners have three players with at least 16 singles victories this spring, including junior Ondrej Fukala who owns a 16-2 mark. Fukala is 9-1 at the No. 2 singles slot this season, including a straight-set victory over No. 90 Matias Marin in his last outing.
Along with Fukala, sophomore Lee Gregg has recorded a 16-3 mark this spring at the bottom two slots, including an impressive 7-0 mark in the No. 5 slot. Freshman Marek Velicka, who leads the team in wins with a 17-3 record, has rotated among the top three spots where he owns an 8-1 mark at the No. 3 singles position.
The Sooners are coached by Paul Lockwood, who is in his 16th season guiding OU. Lockwood owns a 234-154 career record at Oklahoma, including a 15-10 mark last season.
Barthel Gets Rolling at Right Time
Sophomore Joerg Barthel has found mixed results this season, but has started to turn the corner down the stretch. Barthel moved into a tie for the team lead with nine singles victories after picking up a pair of wins over the weekend. He was the only Husker to win every match ? singles and doubles ? while NU split with New Mexico State (loss) and No. 61 Texas-Arlington (win).
Barthel has won four of his last six singles matches and improved to 3-1 at No. 1 singles with a straight-set victory over New Mexico State's Ben Archer-Clowes last Saturday. He is 9-11 overall this spring in singles play and has joined teammate Jose Rivera for the Huskers' best doubles record at 10-7.
Doubles or Nothing
Until recently, the Huskers had struggled in doubles play this year, winning the initial point of the match just one time in its first eight duals and only five times in 18 matches entering last weekend.
The Huskers look like they may have turned the corner after their play against New Mexico State and No. 61 Texas-Arlington. Nebraska won the doubles point in each match, taking back-to-back doubles points for the first time this season.
McDermott Closes in on No. 250
Nebraska Coach Kerry McDermott, who is in his 23rd season guiding the Huskers, has been a stabilizing force for the NU men's tennis team. Under his tutelage, Nebraska has posted at least 10 dual victories 14 times, including four times in the past six years. Last season, he helped the Huskers to a .500 regular-season record for the first time since 1998.
McDermott is closing in on a milestone, as he needs just one victory to reach career win No. 250. He has reached his last two milestone marks against conference opponents, including win No. 150 against Oklahoma State (1993) and win No. 200 against Colorado (1999).
Net Notes
Nebraska and Oklahoma will face off at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center, the site of the 2004 Big 12 Championships in Norman, Okla., on April 23-25...after struggling early this year with just one win in his first seven matches, freshman James Clow has turned it around and now owns seven wins in his last 12 singles contest....five Huskers have already recorded at least eight singles wins in 20 matches this season, while only three reached the mark in 21 matches in 2003...the No. 6 singles slot has provided the most wins (12) this year and the best winning percentage (.600, 12-8)...Joerg Barthel has been consistent winning eight singles matches so far in each of his first two seasons.